Speed-changing mechanism for automatic lathes.



No. 735,701." PATENTBD AUG.11,.1903.

' J. .P. BROPHY.

'SPEED CHANGING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIO LATHES.

v APPLIUATION rum) we. 20, 1902. no uonnL. I 2 sums-sum 1.

WITNESSES ATTORN Y.

No. 735,701. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1903'. x

J. P. BROPHYI.

- SPEED CHANGING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC LATHES.

. APPLIUATIDN FILED AUG. 20, 1902. H0 MODEL; I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

- ITNESSES 11v VEAZ TOR.

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UNIT D STATES Patented August 1 1, 1903.

P TENT OFF CE.

JOHN P. BROPHY, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE CLEVELAND MACHINE soREw COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO. I

SPEED-CHANGING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC LATHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 735,701, dated August 1 1, 1903.

Application filed August 20, 1902. Serial No. 120,347. (No modeld being herein explained and the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle so as to distinguish it from other inventions.

My invention relates to automatically-op erated speed-changing driving mechanism.

The object of said invention is to simplify theconstruction and operation and add to the efiiciency of such mechanism.

Said invention consists of means hereinafter fully described, and particularly set forth in the claims.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail certain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting but one of various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings, Figure I representsavertical cross-section of driving mechanism embodying my invention as applied to an automatic lathe, taken axially of the driving-shaft and showing parts out by the plane of the section in elevation. Fig. II represents a vertical section taken upon the plane indicated by the line 2 2, Fig. I, and viewed in the direction indicated by the arrow in said figure. Fig. III represents avertical section taken upon the plane indicated by the line 3 3 in said Fig. I and viewed in the direction opposite that indicated by the said arrow. Fig. IV represents a detail elevation of a clutch and connected parts viewed as indi:

cated by the arrow in Fig. III. Fig. V represents a vertical section taken axially of the driving-shaft of the remainder of the driving mechanism, showing the said shaft, worm, and worm-wheel driven thereby and secured to the turret-spindlein elevation, also other parts out by. the section-plane in elevation, the scale upon which this figure is drawn being reduced somewhat from the scale of Fig.

a second"friction-disk B I. Fig. VI represents adetail front elevation of the end of the drivingshaft, showing part of a worm wheel sec-u red to a turret spindle; and Fig. VII represents an end view of one part of the d riving-shaft.

The driving-shaftAis mounted in suitable bearings ct, a, and aibearing a for the righthand-shaft end being formed upon the inside of the hub b of friction driving-disk B, which hubis itself mounted in a hearing a formed in the frame of the machine. A clutch O is rotatively fixed, but longitudinally slidable, by means of a groove and key upon the said right-hand-shaft end. Thisclutch is adapted, by means of a pin 0, forming a part thereof, to engage when moved to the right adriving-pulley D, secured upon the hub b, thereby establishing a direct connection between said shaft and pulley,such shaft being thereby driven at a rate of speed equal to that of the pulley. The disk B is caused to drive a sleeve F at a reduced or comparatively low rate of speed, as will further appear. Said diskB drivesa friction-wheel B, which drives This disk B is secured to the end of a shaft B to whose opposite end is secured a pinion b. This pinion engages a gear-wheel E, mounted upon a sleeve e, which is provided with gear-teeth e. Upon each of two studs e Fig. I, are rotatively mounted two pinions e and (2 These pinions are secured to each other, so as to rotate together. The outer pinion e is of greater diameter than the inner pinion e ,Pinions e engage the gear-teeth e of sleeve 6, and pinions e engage gear-teethf, formedupon the end of sleeve F, mounted upon the driving-shaft, as shown. By such described means,known as ditferential gear and which are old and well known, the said sleeve F is driven at a comparatively slow rate of speed by the pulley D, as will be readily understood. f

The driving-shaft A has secured upon it a ratchet-wheel G, whichis mountedrin proximity to the sleeve F, as shown'in Fig.1. This sleeve is provided with two diametricallyrextending arms ff, oneof which-carries an oscillatory pawl f, adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet-wheel G. This pawl. is

formed with an arm f extending toward the shaft-axis and provided at its inner extremity with a friction-piece The other arm f is also provided with an inwardly-extending but fixed arm f", also provided with a friction-piece f" at its inner extremity. The lcft-hand ends of these friction-piccesf" and fcontact thecontiguous face got the ratchetwheel (l, such face being made to slightly project for the purpose, as is shown. Adjacent to said ratchet-wheel is rotatively fixed a friction-disk H, provided witha hub h and capable of sliding movement longitudinally of the shaft by means of a groove and key. The groove is formed in a sleeve J, secured to the shaft, upon one end of which is secured a cup-shaped diskj. Intermediately of said cup-shaped disk j and the friction-disk II and upon said hub h is a helical spring j. This spring presses against the disk II, and the latter presses against the friction-pieces f and f, the arm carrying the latter being made sufficiently long to cause them to be included between disk H and the ratchetwheel face, as shown. Such pressure creates frictional resistance on the partof the friction-pieces and the opposing friction-surfaces sufficient to effect the engagement of the pawl f with the teeth of the ratchetwheel if disengaged or its disengagement from said wheel if engaged, according as the shaft or the differential gear is the driver, the direction of rotation being always the same. In the device as illustrated such direction is that indicated by the arrow, Fig. II. It is thus seen that should the rate of rotation of the sleeve F be greater than that of disk H or should the latter be stationary the pawl f would be moved into engagement with the ratchet-wheel as a result of the greater force of frictional contact which would be exerted by the ratchet-wheel face upon such pawl as compared with that exerted by the disk. Should the rate of rotation of the disk 11 be greater than that of the wheel G, then disengagement of said pawl with said wheel would be effected as a result of the greater frictional contact force exerted by said disk as compared with that exerted by said wheel. The arm f and friction-piece attached thereto serve the purpose merely of a separator for maintaining parallelism between the disk H and ratchet-wheel face g, thereby preventing binding on the part of the disk-hub upon its bearing.

The mechanism as thus far described operates as follows: Assuming that the drivingpulley D is being rotated and the clutch C has just been automatically thrown. over so as to engage said pulley, and thereby establish connection between the pulley and driving-shaft A, it is seen then that the latter will be driven at a speed of rotation equal to that of said pulley. The said pulley being,

however, secured upon the hub of the driving-disk B, the difierential intermediate gear is also driven and the rotatable sleeve F is rotated in the same direction as the shaft, but at a much slower speed. The relative speeds then of said sleeve and shaft are such as to have caused the pawl f to disengage the ratchet-wheel 0, thereby throwing the differential gear out and rendering it inoperative. When the proper time now arrives, the clutch G is thrown over so as to disengage the pulley l), which thereby ceases to become the driver. The driving-shaft rapidly but gradually slows down until the speed of the disk H is slower than that of the sleeve I f thereby exceeding that exerted by the ratchet-\vheel, the pawl is disengaged from said wheel, thereby disconnecting the differential gear and rendering same inoperative. lleretofore in machines of this character there have been three positions of clutch Can operative position at one end of its path of travel in which it engaged the driving-pulley, an operative position at the opposite end of said path in which it is connected with the differential gear, and an intermediateinoperative position. This construction necessitated the exercise of great care, and hence slowness in manually operating the clutch to assume its intermediate position when required.

In myimproved mechanism, asin such previously-constructed machines, clutch C is operated by means of an oscillatory yoke C, Figs. III and IV, mounted upon a rock-shaft c. On one end of such rock-shaft is secured an arm which is adapted to be periodically engaged by a drum (not shown) to operate said clutch to engage or disengage the driving-pulley. The opposite end of said shaft is provided with a fixed arm 0 to which is attached the end of a rod 0 which extends through the frame in suitable bearings and projects from the front of the machine, as will be understood. Such projecting end is provided with a knob 0 whereby the rod may be moved back and forward manually to effeet the operation of the clutch when it is desired to effect such operation independently of the automatically-operated mechanism. Mypreviously-describedimprovedconstruction, whereby the intermediate inoperative position of the clutch is not used, renders this manually-operated mechanism particularly effective and economical, since there are but two positions of the clutch to be had, one an operative and the other an inoperative position, these positions being at oppo- "tatedeither directly by the pulley D at a comparatively high rate of rotation or indirectly by the said pulley through the medium of the differential gear at a comparatively low rate of rotation were not means provided for rendering both said differential and direct driving-gear inoperative.

Since it is frequently necessary to render the driving mechanisminoperative,especially in lathes, it is preferable to provide means to this end which will permit such manual operation to be effected without involving the necessity of stopping the driving-pulley or the driving mechanism. This was done in said former constructions by shifting the clutch into its intermediate position. In order to effect this result in the present construction, I divide shaft A at a point a into two parts, the one part being directly connected, as has been seen, with the differential and direct driving-gear and the other having mounted upon it the worm K, which drives the wormgear K, mounted upon and secured to the turret-spindle K Fig. V. Said worm K is slidably mounted upon the shaft by means of a groove and key between two shoulders a and a, which prevent longitudinal movement on the part of said worm. The contiguous ends of the divided shaft portions are formed with interlocking members a and with a pin a and bore a", respectively. It is thus seen that the forward part of the driving-shaft may be moved in the direction of its axis to disengage or engage the rearward part of said shaft, the pin and bore acting as a guide during said movement. When these two shaft parts are disengaged, it is seen that without interrupting the rotation of the driving-pulley D the driving mechanism may be rendered inoperative. During such inoperation the forward portion of the shaft may be manually rotated by means of a crank L, secured to the outer end of said shaft portion. The longitudinal movement of said shaft portion is preferably obtained by providing it with a rotatably-movable collar a on which isjournaled the two arms of a yoke a which is provided with a handle 0. and is journaled upon the frame, as shown in Figs. Vand VI. Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed provided the means stated by any one of the following claims or the equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a shaft, separate means for driving said shaft at different speeds, each such means embodyinga rotatable member, and frictionally-operated means for connecting or disconnecting one ofsaid driving means, the operation of such means being determined by the difference in relative speeds of the said two rotatable members. 1

2. The combination of a shaft, a drivingpulley, gearing intermediate of such pulley and shaft for driving the latter at reduced speed, means for connecting such pulley directly to such shaft, said intermediate gearing provided with means'for connecting such gearing with or disconnecting it from said shaft, the operation of said means being determined by the difference in relative rotation of a member of such intermediate gear and said shaft 3. The combination of a shaft, a drivingpulley, means including gearing, intermediate of said pulley and shaft for driving the latter at a reduced speed, means for connecting such pulley to said shaft to efiect rotation thereof at a comparatively high rate of speed, said gearing provided with means for effecting its engagement with said shaft, and means connected with the latter for actuating said engaging means.

4. The combination of a shaft, a drivingpulley, means including gearing intermediate of said pulley and shaft for driving the latter at a reduced speed, means for connecting such pulley to said shaft so as to effect rotation thereof at a comparatively high rate of speed, said gearing and shaft provided with frictionally-operated means for operatively connecting such gearing and shaft.

5. The combination of a shaft, a drivingpulley, gearing intermediate of said pulley and shaft for driving the latter at a reduced speed, means for connecting such pulley to' said shaft to effect rotation thereof at a comparatively high rate of speed, a pawl connected with such gearing for engaging said shaft to operatively connect same and said shaft, and means for actuating said pawl to effect such engagement.

6. The combination ofa shaft, a drivingpulley, gearing intermediate of said pulley and said shaft for driving the latter at a re duced speed, means for connecting said pulley to said shaft to effect rotation at a comparatively high rate of speed, a pawl connected with a member of said gearing, a member connected withsaid shaft, a ratchet-wheel on said shaft adapted to be engaged by said pawl, said ratchet-wheel and the member connected with said shaft being provided with friction surfaces engaging the said pawl whereby such surfaces are connected with said shaft and gearing respectively and adapted to actuate said pawl to engage or disengage said ratchet-wheel according as the said gearing or shaft is the driver.

7. The combination of a shaft, a ratchet- Wheel secured to said shaft, a rotatable member coaxial with the latter, a pawl connected with same and adapted to engage said wheel, means on said shaft for frictionally engaging said pawl, and means for positively driving either said shaft or said rotatable member.

8. The combination of a shaft, a ratchetwheel secured to said shaft, a member rotatively mounted upon said shaft, a pawl mounted thereon and adapted to engage said wheel, and a disk rotatively mounted upon said shaft and adapted to effect frictional engagement of said pawl with one face of said ratchet-wheel whereby said pawl may be actuated to engage or disengage said wheel according as the said member or shaft is positively driven.

9. The combination of a two-part shaft, means for driving said shaft at a comparatively low speed and means for driving said shaft at a comparatively high speed, means for connecting one part of said shaft to one or the otherof said driving means, and means for separating the two parts of said shaft whereby the one part may be rendered inoperative.

10. In speed-changingmechauism,the combination of a shaft having a disconnectible portion, differential gearing for driving said shaft indirectly at a comparatively low rate of speed, and means for driving such shaft directly at a comparatively high rate of speed, means for eonnecting'one or the other of such driving means with said shaft, and manual means for separating such two shaft parts, whereby a portion of said shaft may be rendered inoperative.

11. In speed-changing mechanism,the combination of a driving-shaft consisting of a main and a disconnectible portion, a wormwheel, a worm rotatively mounted upon said disconnectible portion and engaging said wheel, said disconnectible portion being longitudinally slidable through said worm,means for driving the main-shaft portion.

12. In speed-changing mechanism,the combination of a longitudinally-fixed drivingshaft, a longitudinally-slidable shaft coaxial with said fixed shaft and adapted to engage and disengage same, means for driving such fixed shaft, a longitudinally-stationary worm rotatively mounted upon said slidable shaft,

a worm-wheel engaging said worm, and means for moving said slidable shaft to engage or disengage said fixed shaft.

13. Inspeed-changing|necl1anism,the combination of a driving-shaft, a ratchet-wheel fixed upon such shaft, a member rotatable upon the latter, a pawl on such member adapted to engage and disengage such wheel, and means for establishing frictional engagement between said wheel and pawl tending to move the latter upon its axis.

14-. Inspecd-changingmechanism,the combination of a driving-shaft, a ratchet-wheel fixed upon such shaft and provided with a friction-surface transverse relatively to its axis of rotation, a member rotatable upon such shaft, a pawl on such member adapted to engage and disengage said wheel, and pro vided with an arm extending in the vicinity of such friction-surface, and means for establishing frictional engagement between said wheel and pawl-arm.

15. Inspeed-changingmeehanism,the combination of a driving-shaft, a ratchet-wheel fixed upon said shaft, a member rotatable upon the latter, a pawl carried by said rotatable member and adapted to frictionally engage such wheel so as to move itself upon its axis and thereby engage or disengage the ratchet-teeth, and spring-actuated means on said shaft engaging said pawl to effect such frictional engagement.

16. In speed-changing mechanism,the combination of a driving-shaft, a ratchet-wheel fixed upon said shaft, a member rotatable upon the latter, a pawl carried by said rotatable member provided with an arm adapted to frictionally engage said wheel so as to move itself upon its axis and thereby engage or disengage the ratchet-teeth, and a spring-actuated disk slidable longitudinally of and rotatively fixed to the said shaft, said disk engaging said pawl-arm to effect such frictional engagement.

'Signed by me this 12th day of August, 1902.

JOHN P. BROPHY.

Attest:

GEO. W. SAYWELL, A. E. MERKEL. 

